7 killed, 5 injured in attack on army camp in eastern Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, July 9 (Xinhua) -- At least seven people including six soldiers and one policeman were killed and five other troops got injured when an army camp in Pakistan's eastern district of Gujrat was attacked by militants early Monday morning, said the army.

Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), an army mouthpiece in the country, confirmed the earliers local media reports about the attack and the casualties hours after the incident took place.

According to the local media reports, the attack took place at about 5:30 a.m. local time on Monday when five militants, one coming in on a motorbike and others in a car, launched an attack on an army camp set up along the Chenab River that passes by Gujrat, a district lying about 120 kilometers northwest of Lahore, capital of Punjab province in eastern Pakistan.

The unknown militants opened fire and hurled handgrenades at soldiers who were coming back to the camp after the morning prayer.

The attackers fled the scene after the attack.

One policeman posted nearby the camp was also killed in the attack.

All the injured have been shifted to hospital in the neighbouring city of Gujranwala. Local media quoted hospital sources as saying at least two of the five injured troops were in critical condition.

No group has claimed the responsibility for the attack yet.

The army camp attacked was set up there temporarily to recover an army officer who went missing in a helicopter crash over the Chenab River about 45 days ago, said local media, adding that there is a whole battalion housed in the camp.